Getting Started
So you want to play Garry's Mod Stranded? Great! This page is a small tutorial on how to survive your first few nights in GMS. You can find a summarised version of many elements of the game on this page. For more information on anything you see on this page, check out the other pages on the wiki. What Is Garry's Mod Stranded? Garry's Mod Stranded (frequently called 'GMS') is a survival gamemode inside of Garry's Mod. You are dropped into a map with no food, shelter or weapons (except for your fists, physics gun and gravity gun) and must survive for as long as people. You are required to find food, fend off enemies and build your own empire. The gamemode also features a built-in level system, and as you progress through the levels your skills are automatically upgraded to enhance your woodchopping, mining, farming and other skills. There are some great guides available on the Steam Community that also give summarised explanations of everything found on this wiki. Your First Night - Mining and Crafting When you spawn into the game, you will have nothing except your fists. This, for now, is your only tool. Head toward the nearest tree and punch the sap out of it. It will take quite a few tries, but eventually you will gather some wood. You're going to need about 30 units of wood. Initially, you won't be able to carry this much, so any excess units will automatically be dropped at your feet in the form of a Half-Life 2 Supply Crate. After you've gathered as much wood as you desire, find a large rock and start punching that too. Your fingers won't break, so don't be afraid to really whale into it. After you've collected around 20 stones (you might be there a while), hold the Q button down and click on "Structures" under the Resource tab. Find a safe place to set up a camp (try to be near a water source, some trees and some rocks) and click on "Stone Workbench". You will set up a wire frame of a workbench where you're looking. When you can move around again, press E on the wires and any wood and stone in your inventory will be placed into the bench to start building it. If you have any wood or stone on the ground around you (Supply crates), use the physics or gravity gun to move them onto the wire frame. The Q menu can be used to spawn props using the appropriate resource (wood, iron, copper). You can also do various other things which are a little more advanced and you won't need until a bit later. Using the "Structures" tab will allow you to craft other, advanced things such as furnaces, workbenches and even kitchen appliances! Your First Night - Food You may have noticed in the bottom left corner is a custom HUD with various elements on it. Depending on what server you're on, the HUD will have 3-6 different elements. However, Hunger, Thirst and Fatigue will always be there. So after making your first Stone Workbench, you're probably a little hungry or thirsty. This can be easily (ehhh...) fixed by finding the nearest lake, standing inside it and pressing E multiple times. There's no animation, but you will drink the water you're standing in. Being outside the water and pressing E will allow you to fill up a water bottle, which is used in advanced crafting techniques. With the water problem solved, your next task will be to find food. As stated previously, you don't spawn with any food or water items. So after finding water, step out of the lake and stare at the ground. Press E to stare. The more you stare, the higher your chances of finding seeds, herbs, baits and berries. At this time, berries are a life saver. Press F2 to open your resources tab (if you haven't done so already) and right click on "Berries", then click Eat. You will consume the nutrients that is dirt apples. When you're nice and full (this will take a while, so don't worry too much about completely filling your hunger bar), go back to your camp if you haven't already and plant the seeds in the ground. This can be done by looking at your feet, holding Q and left-clicking any Seeds you have in your inventory. They will take about three-five minutes to grow and will contain one fruit on its vines. Press E to eat the fruit. Your First Night - Shelter and Night time You've set up a fancy camp with a stone workbench, plenty of crops around you and you're now nice and cozy. Don't get comfortable; depending on when you joined the server, it'll be getting close to night time soon if it isn't already. Gather some more wood, create a 2x2 plank from the Wood - PHX tab in the Q menu and use your physics gun to freeze it above your head. If you stand under it and Sleep (Resources tab in the Q menu), you won't lose any health while sleeping. Your fatigue will recover slowly and you'll lose a small amount of Hunger and Thirst. (Later, you can create furniture to sleep on so your fatigue recovers faster and you won't lose as much hunger and thirst). During the night time, when it gets very dark, a message will pop up saying "Something has happened in the night..." or similar dependent on the server. This means that any spare resources you have laying around in Supply Crates will disappear. Your next course of action to ensure this doesn't happen anymore is to create a Resource Pack. Hold Q, go to "Structures" and find Resource Pack to the right of the bar. You will need 10 Stone and 20 Wood to craft the resource pack by default. Again, find a tree or a rock and start punching it until you have the right resources. Your Second Night The second night will be similar to the first, however you will have a lot of things to go with. As the sun rises over the rolling hills to signal the start of Day 2, check out what resources you need and start collecting them to build a Hatchet, a Pickaxe and upgrade your tables. Now is also a good time to begin shaping your camp by adding new things and moving other things to suit your liking. From here, you can gather more resources, level up and begin to build your empire greater than ever! Good luck!